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I think my all-time favorite article of clothing is a pair of overall-shorts (I always called them short-alls) that I wore a lot in the late 90s. Overalls were cooler then. It didn't make me an automatic outcast like it might if I started wearing overall-shorts again today. They were so comfortable. I wanted to wear them every single day. Then one time I was running and they got caught on a door latch and it ripped a giant hole in them. I just froze where I was standing, looking down at my torn short-alls as if I'd just realized that a dear friend had a terminal disease. They were my favorite, but that was the end of them. In hindsight, overall-shorts are kind of just an adult-sized romper, disguised in denim...which is fantastic.

And sometimes when I have to get all gussied up for some big event, all I can think of are those short-alls. It's like my casual self is there in the mirror to remind me, "Hey, I bet you wish you were wearing overall-shorts right now." Because I do. But you just can't wear them to a wedding...or your company Christmas party...as much as I wish that was socially acceptable.

So this is where I was really going with yesterday's drawing...Yesterday was part 1.
But here we have the finished product: the deer and the man have switched facial accessories!
It's like Freaky Friday, but on a Wednesday...and with a deer.
I originally wanted to make a dialogue bubble with the deer saying "Tradesies" because I just think it's so funny. Like the deer is calling dibs or dibsies on the beard, and he's calling an official "tradesies." But I'm not sure "tradesies" is actually a thing, and it looks really weird written out, so I left it out of the drawing. But I still think of it every time I look at the deer and that smug smile on his little bearded snout.

If I had to grow any sort of extra limb, I would want a tail like a monkey. I might have covered this before. I’ve thought about it a lot. Or I could live with an extra hand. That could come in (forgive me) “handy” from time to time, but it would also mean that I have an extra arm, which I’m not really interested in. I could just settle for a few extra fingers to improve my typing and cat’s cradle skills. But I would not be excited if I grew antlers, not even a little bit. I’d bump into doorways and people would use me as a coat rack and other deers might hit on me and I just can’t see any good that would come out of it. Bummer for this guy, then…because he totally grew antlers. Suddenly a monkey's tail doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

I admit I modeled the hiker after Yukon Cornelius, the cheerful miner in the claymation Rudolph movie. Why wouldn't I? Don't all hikers look like that guy? I drew this picture as I was watching my friends try on different shoes for a wedding. As some of the higher heels came out, I decided Yukon would find them worth exploring himself.

Last year I did a series of drawings where I drew characters from movies in the style of different cartooncharacters. It was a really fun project, and lately I've been wanting to do that again. Except I couldn't think of any really recognizable comics or cartoons that I hadn't already done...except Dilbert. And let's face it, if you're going to draw a Dilbert cartoon, it just has to be work-related. So I drew my coworkers. I know, I know, I draw them all the time...but this is a Dilberty version of my coworkers Nate and Michael.

Today I had no particular goal in mind of what I wanted to draw...but I decided I wanted to doodle with a green Sharpie pen that I had on my desk. So then I figured I should draw something green. And while broccoli or algae or Oscar the Grouch could have made some nice green sketches - I decided to go with money instead!

I love mixing real-life images with drawn sketches...it's the beauty of Pete's Dragon and Mary Poppins! I like mixing art and animated with real life. Oh, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks - that's another good one. I'm no Mary Poppins, but I did manage to get my real-life hand into a drawing with my sketchy self. I think my hand looks weird, though. It makes me very aware of how not-what-I-was-taught-in-first-grade my pen-holding grip is. I've always known that, and it creates a weird little divot on the tip of my middle finger. I might retake the photo. I'm hoping to sell prints on here pretty soon, and in the process of blog-brainstorming (blogstorming) I came up with this as an idea for the link to my hypothetical shop. I'm still very far from having anything concrete and done, but brainstorming is my favorite stage so I'm enjoying myself.

It's been a year. I've been blogging for a whole year! I can't believe I've kept it up. I haven't missed a single weekday. That's consistency, people! In the beginning I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with the daily-posting schedule, so I blogged for about two months without telling a soul. I didn't want to say "Hey, check out my blog" and then stop posting two weeks into it. My first post was actually just me mocking myself for how long it took to get this blog set up at all. I like to think the content has improved slightly since then.

I read the book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller in one sitting. In fact, that one sitting took place on Friday June 18th, 2010 - one year ago. I read it cover to cover and it made me want to do more with my life. It made me want to try new things and take chances. I wanted to risk something, to overcome something, anything...it made me want to have a more interesting story. I created this blog that night.

I had been toying with the idea for a while, but I was too chicken to do it. To me it felt like a risk, and one that I was afraid of being judged for. But it's something I wanted to do for myself, to push myself, and I'm glad I have. I've enjoyed this year and the art that I've created every week. To those of you who actually check in every day (I'm reminded of Tina Fey's acceptance speech at the 2007 Emmys when she thanked 30Rock's "dozens and dozens of viewers" for watching her program) - thank you. I appreciate you. And I'm looking forward to another great year.

I live in the mountains and it's wonderful. There are trees and squirrels and creeks and acorns.

I take it for granted so often. I forget that it's a privilege to live and work in such a beautiful place.

But yesterday a glorious window of time opened up in the afternoon and I was able to sit outside for a while and just read and draw and look at the mountains. For at least a few moments in the day, I was sitting in the sunshine and not taking any of it for granted, not even a little bit. I've decided I need to do that more often.

I know a lot of the world can say the same thing, but since I'm pretty sure I'm the only one amongst my friends who's seen them...it makes me feel a little silly. I'm supposed to be a grown-up, right? Or at least on my way. Twilight seems like a step backward. But, all that being said, I do have one particular partner in crime that sees the Twilight movies with me, and now we've decided we have to see them all together. I think I look forward to our silly pact and late-night-sneaking-into-movie-theaters-hoping-no-one-will-see-us routine more than I look forward to seeing the actual movies. I'm pretty sure they're getting worse.

So anyway, despite my love for mocking Twilight and my self-deprication for seeing them, the Twilight gentlemen/monsters have become the subject of my latest art project. A friend recently showed me this blog about an art show by a designer named Olly Moss. It's amazing. Let me say right now: Annie < Olly Moss. It's all silhouette profiles of characters from pop culture, and I love looking through them. I wish I could have the one of all the James Bonds! I think it's such a cool, simple idea and it made me want to try some of my own. But since I don't know how to cut silhouettes, I decided to draw them. I eventually scanned them in to Photoshop and made them look finished (above) but I think I'm still more fond of the drawn versions (below.) I chose the Twilight dudes because I thought they'd be easiest...I could spot that pouting, broody mouth of Edward Cullen from a mile away.

I'm seeing the new X-Men movie tonight. The anticipation has got me thinking all about mutants and superpowers and the upcoming "Avengers" movie. This is sort of my version. It's like the Annie-version of the "Superfriends" - James Bond, Annatello, Cyclops, and Xena. That's my crew. Cyclops is the X-Men character I always had a crush on and Xena was one of my favorite shows when I was in high school (I watched it for a while before it started getting weird...like, I think she comes back from the dead somewhere around season 4, for example. I was long gone at that point.) James Bond was my FAVORITE in my jr. high years, and of course I don't need to go on about Annatello any more than I already have...but if I could fight crime with this bunch, I would be so happy. Really, we don't even have to fight crime. We could just hang out and get frozen yogurt and stuff. I'd be cool with that.

I like to draw little drawings. I like little, detailed doodles that fit on little pieces of paper that I can draw with my fine-tipped pens and mechanical pencils. I don't do big drawings. At least, it's a lot harder for me and I enjoy it much less. But I'm trying to push myself to create things that are new for me, which is how the wooden art shown above came to be. I decided I wanted to create a big tree piece of art, but I kept it as simple as I could. I practically copied a tree I drew a few months ago, and I drew it in sharpie (which I strongly prefer over a paintbrush.) I drew the tree while listening to Drew Barrymore get interviewed by James Lipton on Inside the Actor's Studio. Turns out Steven Spielberg is her godfather.

My favorite part of the process was after I drew the tree, and I carted my wooden "canvas" into my bathroom to paint the wood stain all around it. I do all my wood stain work in the bathroom because it's well-ventilated, the floor is easy to clean, there's a sink nearby, and it's surprisingly well-lit. I left my wooden tree art in the bathtub to dry overnight, which I enjoyed rediscovering in the morning.

This weekend I watched the movie "Gnomeo and Juliet" with my friends, and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I figured a movie about lawn gnomes would be pretty limited in its entertainment potential, but I was surprised to find myself enjoying it all the way through. There were lots of clever references to Shakespeare, though I'm sure I only caught about 16% of them. But watching the movie made me want to design my own lawn gnome (Could a design-a-lawn-gnome-online-site be a potential business?) and this is what I would want my lawn gnome to look like. I of course went with green as my main color, and I tried to make the dress look as similar to overalls as I could. Super-cute, right? She doesn't look very gnomey, but I like her.

Last weekend I found myself sitting in a nook of a Panera restaurant with my sketchbook, ipod, and a fuji apple chicken salad...which is pretty close to perfection. I started drawing the random gentleman pictured above (dudes and trees are my go-to doodles.) He was looking a little too preppy for my taste, so I gave him shaggier hair. Still too preppy. Gave him an eyepatch. Now he was looking a little more down-to-earth. Once I finished up the drawing and really started looking at him, I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew the guy. He seemed familiar, like I knew him when we were kids. Finally I realized what he reminded me of - a short-lived TV show called "Peter Pan and the Pirates." In this version, Peter Pan had a sick ponytail that made me never want to watch the show. Even though they don't look totally alike, the dude I drew reminded me of what an adult version of that Pan might look like. He probably just goes by "Pete" by now...and I imagine he spends less time wearing tights than the old days.

My favorite has always been Ringo, which I know puts me in a certain class of Beatle fans...but I don't care. I don't care what anyone says. Ringo is my favorite. I first fell in love with the Beatles when I was about ten years old (commonly referred to in Annie folklore as "the Ninja Turtle Phase") and Ringo was the one that I found most endearing. I liked that he was quirky and less-cool and he played drums. I also generated a lot of Ringo-affection after watching the animated movie Yellow Submarine a few dozen times. I always thought Ringo had some of the best lines in the movie and he made me laugh, so I liked him more. In hindsight I realize how ridiculous it is to like someone based on an animated character (and it wasn't even his voice!), but my younger self didn't know any better. I also "had a crush" on the guy who wore the Donatello suit in the live-action Ninja Turtles movie...that doesn't even make sense! I never saw his face! But what can I say? The heart wants what it wants. And sometimes it just wants ice cream.

This is (obviously) a tree that I drew. To brighten it up, I threw some color around it and now it kind of looks like fire. I liked the idea of having birds fly out of it, or evolving out of it like phoenixes...so that's what I drew. Since there's not much more to say about it, I shall regale you with other tree-tales and facts that I can come up with:

I always wanted a treehouse in my backyard but we didn't have a big enough tree. We did, however, have a teeny tiny plum tree that I spent lots of time in. This was a small tree, people. There was barely room for me to sit in it. But I was determined, so I made it work.

Favorite tree in a movie: Obviously the tree in Swiss Family Robinson. It's the correct answer, right? Runner-up goes to "Hangman's Tree," where Peter Pan hides out, or the Eewok Village in Star Wars.

Favorite trees to look at: Birch trees. I like the straight trunks with white bark. I like that they seem tidy.

Favorite song about a tree: O Christmas Tree, because it's the only one I can think of. That, and "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" but that just reminds me of piano lessons.

Favorite trees to climb: I've never actually gotten to climb a banyan tree, but they look amazing. I'd very much like to climb one of those. I always got jealous when the "Lost" gang was climbing around in them on the island, though they never seemed to appreciate the privilege.

Favorite fictional trees: The Ents from Lord of the Rings. Especially when they take on Isengard.

Least favorite fictional trees: Weren't there some trees in The Wizard of Oz that attacked Dorothy and her pals? I recall them being terrifying.

It's my lucky day/year! I just discovered that Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are going to be in a movie together! These guys are two of my absolute FAVORITES. I think they're super-dreamy in their own adorable kind-of-geeky ways (if John Krasinski was in this movie too, it would be a trifecta.) I remember the first time I saw the trailer for the movie "Funny People" with Seth Rogen in it, and I thought he was just soooo cute. Like, Jim-Halpert-Season-2 cute. Lloyd-Dobler-boombox cute. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "500 Days of Summer" gave me a whole new appreciation for sweatervests...sigh. So anyway, this movie's called "50/50" and Anna Kendrick and Angelica Houston are in it, too. They're also some of my faves, but in a different way. The movie is about cancer, so it's not the buddy-movie I'm making it out to be...but I still think it looks like a good film. You should watch the trailer and fall in a little more in love with Seth Rogen like I did. I'm telling you - it's hard to resist sideburns, stubble, and a flannel shirt.

Filling in this guy's beard has been like a grown-up version of a coloring book this week. I love it. This time I went for a nature-y vibe as I drew the mountains into his beard, representing the deep connection the lumberjack has with mother nature. That, and I like to draw trees. The mustache is the only part I wish I had done differently...I thought it would be cool if that section was full of woodland creatures. But instead it kind of reminds me of a woodland-creature-nativity-scene, with them all gathered around the bird nest like that. I'll re-do it some day...like maybe tomorrow.

This is the result of me attempting to draw Elvis Presley. I know it's hard to tell.

I couldn't get the face right at all, but I thought it was interesting how it came out. Something about that eye - the one on the right...I think it's completely in the wrong spot. And it reminds me of Picasso paintings, because he always did such weird things with eyes in his abstract portraits (see crazy below). Anyway, for some reason, the Picasso-connection makes me kind of like the picture how it is and I don't want to go back and fix it. So I'll just pretend I was trying to make him look like this. I was being abstract and artsy! (If that excuse worked for Picasso, it should work for me.)

I love this guy. And I spent a lot of last night drawing this guy's beard. It took a lot longer than I thought it would. But I really like the effect and now that it's finished, I'm happy I have this version. Originally I was going to do a simpler pattern for the big ol' beard, but once I did this pattern in the mustache, I liked it so much that I decided to keep going...and going...and going. It really tested my patience and determination. The hair and beanie shading was nothing compared to that darn beard. "By the beard of Zeus!" as Ron Burgundy would say...alright, that's all I've got for now. Here's a "montage" of pictures documenting the now-infamous beard-shading: